Dem donors demand discount for Obama dinners?

posted at 2:01 pm on July 24, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

President Obama has gone on a three-day fundraising tour in the midst of crisis, which has drawn sharp criticism over White House priorities — especially since the Obamas will take a 15-day vacation in just a couple of weeks, too. The White House ducked the criticism but ended up encouraging even more of it from the press, which itlocked out of the events. Politico vented some steam at Obama in two pieces over the last two days:

Tuesday, the reporters and photographers traveling with the president on Air Force One and in his motorcade were left on the gravel path not even within sight of former Costco CEO Jim Sinegal’s house in the Seattle suburbs where Obama sat for a Senate Majority PAC fundraiser with a $25,000 entrance fee.

Wednesday morning, when he met with big donors for the House Majority PAC at the Four Seasons hotel in downtown San Francisco, they weren’t even told what room or floor he was on.

“We think these fundraisers ought to be open to at least some scrutiny, because the president’s participation in them is fundamentally public in nature,” said Christi Parsons, the new president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. “Denying access to him in that setting undermines the public’s ability to independently monitor and see what its government is doing. It’s of special concern as these events and the donors they attract become more influential in the political process.”

Despite constant complaints from the press corps and promises from White House officials, access to the president continues to be limited. The constantly repeated line that they’re running the “most transparent administration in history” tends to prompt snickers. Halfway through Obama’s West Coast swing, it’s tipping toward outrage.

The Most Transparent Administration Evah? Not so much:

What’s even more irksome for the press is that this approach to super PAC events is coming from a president who has publicly criticized the Citizens United decision and distances himself from the PAC that supports him.

“How many people Obama met with was a secret. How much they paid to get in was a secret. Finding out who the people were? Forget it. Even a general account of what the president said to them? Not from this White House.”

Perhaps this comes more from embarrassment than secrecy. The San Francisco Chronicle reported overnight that Obama and Democrats had to heavily discount the entry fee to get the place filled, and concludes that “donor fatigue” has set in — even in Nancy Pelosi’s political base:

President Obama hit the Bay Area for a fast cash-and-grab fundraising drive Wednesday, but there were signs that even in one of the nation’s most reliable Democratic ATMs, donor fatigue is setting in.

There was no listed price for tickets for Obama’s morning appearance at a roundtable in San Francisco for the House Majority PAC – the type of intimate gathering for which admission is usually $32,400 per person, the legal maximum. Some donors said tickets had been offered for a deep discount.

And in Los Altos Hills, the heart of Silicon Valley big money, the president’s appearance at the home of real estate mogul George Marcus drew an older crowd that was noteworthy for the absence of young angel investors, startup stars and tech leaders who have flocked to fundraisers Obama has held while paying 17 previous visits as president to the Bay Area.

Democratic donors who were invited to the San Francisco event, at the Four Seasons Hotel on Market Street, said they had initially been asked to donate as much as $25,000 to sit down with Obama. One who balked at the price said organizers had offered a cut-rate deal of as little as $5,000.

That wouldn’t be terribly surprising in other parts of the country, not for a President for whom a 42% job approval rating qualifies as the good news from a poll. The lack of enthusiasm in this particular part of the country should send up big warning flares for other Democrats, though, especially about the lack of younger entrepreneurs showing up for the fundraisers. Obama mobilized younger, tech-savvy donors in his two presidential campaigns, and without them Democrats will find it very difficult to maintain momentum in a demo that they cannot afford to have drop out in the midterms.

The 80% discount for dinners reflects not just donor fatigue, but as polling continues to show, Obama fatigue as well. Small wonder the White House would prefer to lock the press out of these events.

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For Obama it isn’t about the fundraising so much as it is about the ego boost of being in a room of adoring idiots laughing at his jokes and enthusiastically clapping at his stale partisan stump speech. They need to fill the room, even if at a discount.

For Obama it isn’t about the fundraising so much as it is about the ego boost of being in a room of adoring idiots laughing at his jokes and enthusiastically clapping at his stale partisan stump speech. They need to fill the room, even if at a discount.

Happy Nomad on July 24, 2014 at 2:10 PM

You are correct sir. He needs the room full of clapping seals to keep his morale up, because he doesn’t get that kind of adoration anywhere else.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee outraised its Republican counterpart by more than $1 million last month, raking in $7.2 million to the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s $6.04 million.

That brings the DSCC’s total raised for the second quarter of the year to $21.7 million, a record-breaking haul for the committee, according to an aide. The DSCC entered the month of July with $30.5 million cash on hand, while the NRSC had $24.6 million in the bank.
The DSCC’s second-quarter numbers continues their fundraising successes over the NRSC — they’ve outraised the GOP committee every quarter this cycle, as they gear up for a tough fight to hold onto a fragile six-seat majority this fall.

And it brings the DSCC to $95.8 million raised for the cycle overall, to the NRSC’s $70.3 million raised — both record-breaking sums for the committees at this point in the cycle.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $10.9 million from donors in June and has $50.9 million in its bank accounts. At the same time, the National Republican Congressional Committee said donors gave another $9.6 million to the committee tasked with keeping House Republicans in the majority and has $42.5 million saved.

The Democrats’ House campaign committee has outraised the GOP in 16 of the last 18 months despite long odds of tipping control of the chamber away from Republicans. The Democrats have now raised almost $125 million since the last elections and have been spending heavily to help their incumbents and candidates.

The Democratic National Committee narrowly outraised its Republican rival last month and cut its debt to just $3 million, down from a onetime high of $23 million.

The DNC raised almost $9 million in June, while the Republican National Committee reported Sunday that it raised $8.5 million. Despite narrowly being edged out last month, the RNC still has $14.4 million in the bank — roughly twice the DNC’s almost $7.8 million.

Who is the number 1 fundraiser for for DSCC, DCCC, and DNC? King Barry himself!!

For Obama it isn’t about the fundraising so much as it is about the ego boost of being in a room of adoring idiots laughing at his jokes and enthusiastically clapping at his stale partisan stump speech.

“How many people Obama met with was a secret. How much they paid to get in was a secret. Finding out who the people were? Forget it. Even a general account of what the president said to them? Not from this White House.”

Gee, too bad there weren’t any reporters around who could like investigate these types of…oh wait, never mind.

For Obama it isn’t about the fundraising so much as it is about the ego boost of being in a room of adoring idiots laughing at his jokes and enthusiastically clapping at his stale partisan stump speech.

So you’ve conceded you don’t know what you’re talking about regarding ObamaCare and have moved on to “But Barry is still raking in the cash!”.

But wait, I thought we wanted to get the money out of politics – especially from the super rich.

Oh, so that’s a total lie too.

Lefties can raise all the campaign cash they want from the super rich but some group makes a movie critical of Hillary “too close” to an election and SCOTUS says the state can’t shut down their free speech you lefties retire to the fainting couch in a hysteria claiming that we live in an oligarchy.

Who is the number 1 fundraiser for for DSCC, DCCC, and DNC? King Barry himself!!

See I used that childish taunt King Barry!!

Ned Pepper on July 24, 2014 at 2:15 PM

When that’s all you do? Pfft! You’d better be their number one fundraiser. Plus when you’ve got Wall St. in your back pocket…
Sillycone Valley seems to be wising up though. But I wouldn’t expect it to last. Wait until Warren is the nominee. They’ll be back to donating to democrats at lightning speed.

Who are those f***ing morons who want to spend tens of thousands of dollars to watch this most incompetent fool read a speech from a teleprompter? The democrat base from their top elite all the way to the welfare queens is f***ed up beyond belief…

Fat chance, you fools.
You break it, you bought it.
I want the last five years of taxes I paid to this banana republic.
$100,000 or so would come in handy. Maybe I’d buy a plate so I could tell King Putt how much I “respct” him.
Choke on it, dem voters. You effing douchenozzles.

Who is the number 1 fundraiser for for DSCC, DCCC, and DNC? King Barry himself!!

See I used that childish taunt King Barry!!

Ned Pepper on July 24, 2014 at 2:15 PM

Yeah, enjoy the fundraising power of the most incompetent, the most ignorant, the most partisan, the most immature, the most foolish President in the history of the Republic and by far… The world is burning, our enemies are stronger than ever, the GDP is -2.9%, most new jobs are low paying part time jobs, price of food is going through the roof, and this utter fool is campaigning, raising tons of money from the super hypocrites limousine liberals, dinning late at night with the rich and famous, golfing, vacationing, shooting pool, etc… You f***ing liberal super hypocrites you attack the right when they raise money but this fool main obsession is to raise money from the super hypocrite limousine liberals… You people are mentally sick, no one can be such a hypocrite if not being mentally sick…

Talking about EBT cards, I went to the super market twice last week and in both occasions I saw multiple people right in front of me were purchasing tons of stuff using their EBT cards… Of course I have seen people doing the same before but this time it way too many… No shame what so ever… Carts full of all type of stuff and we the producers are paying for it… The lazy a**holes using these EBT cards were young and healthy… Utterly disgusting…

I want the last five years of taxes I paid to this banana republic. $100,000 or so would come in handy.

HornetSting on July 24, 2014 at 2:30 PM

This poor bastiage only makes $25K a year.

BTW, your $100K has already been spend on DNC fundraising….sorry.

antipc on July 24, 2014 at 2:40 PM

You need to change your name to stupid.
last five years of taxes I paid…….$100,000 in taxes

Now, kindly f*ck off.

HornetSting on July 24, 2014 at 2:46 PM

Excuse my misfire…..I’m listening to Rush and my trigger finger is a little touchy.
You make $25,000….. At least you’re working and we’re probably a bit older than you.
Again, accept my apology. I totally misread your post and your name…I thought it was antisense….again, I blame Rush making my head explode.

This would be cool. What if, instead of complaining about the lack of access, the WH Reporters just stopped showing up. No Press Conferences, Josh Earnest briefing an empty room, no press gaggle on any of these trips. It seems that Obama lives by the media, being an ego-fed being, so deprive him of that.

“We think these fundraisers ought to be open to at least some scrutiny, because the president’s participation in them is fundamentally public in nature,” said Christi Parsons, the new president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. “Denying access to him in that setting undermines the public’s ability to independently monitor and see what its government is doing. It’s of special concern as these events and the donors they attract become more influential in the political process.”

To quote the Great Ralph Cramden: “Hardy-har-HAR.”

To hear a mainstream journalist, and particularly a Washington journalist and most particularly a White House journalist wax rhapsodic over the public’s right to know the facts about Our Beloved President’s activities is almost too absurd to endure. YOU, sweetheart, and your professional convoy gave your all – your good names, your reputations and your integrity – to camouflage this man and provide cover in order to empower him. He used you and took it from you dry, knowing you wouldn’t let out so much as a whimper of protest and now that he no longer needs you he has dropped you like a sticky Kleenex and THAT is your real complaint against him.
“You knew what this was, baby…”

You need to change your name to stupid.
last five years of taxes I paid…….$100,000 in taxes

Now, kindly f*ck off.

HornetSting on July 24, 2014 at 2:46 PM

If I may intervene, I believe antipc was referring to himself as the “poor bastage” who makes only $25,000 p/y. He was explaining that your $100,000 in taxes have been spent on fundraising.

You struck an innocent man.

GAbred on July 24, 2014 at 3:09 PM

I want the last five years of taxes I paid to this banana republic. $100,000 or so would come in handy.

HornetSting on July 24, 2014 at 2:30 PM

This poor bastiage only makes $25K a year.

BTW, your $100K has already been spend on DNC fundraising….sorry.

antipc on July 24, 2014 at 2:40 PM

You need to change your name to stupid.
last five years of taxes I paid…….$100,000 in taxes

Now, kindly f*ck off.

HornetSting on July 24, 2014 at 2:46 PM

Excuse my misfire…..I’m listening to Rush and my trigger finger is a little touchy.
You make $25,000….. At least you’re working and we’re probably a bit older than you.
Again, accept my apology. I totally misread your post and your name…I thought it was antisense….again, I blame Rush making my head explode.

HornetSting on July 24, 2014 at 2:50 PM

Now, kindly f*ck off.

HornetSting on July 24, 2014 at 2:46 PM

Sorry, no offense intended. Just making light of the percentage the Feds help themselves to when it comes to our income.

antipc on July 24, 2014 at 2:52 PM

.

I apologize. Please, make sure to wipe those pieces of my exploded head off your lapel.
The La Raza beetch complaining about Americans chanting USA USA and Maria Harff…..I’m about to go nuclear.

Tuesday morning, the WHCA complained after Obama celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing by hosting Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong’s widow in the Oval Office and allowing just a brief glimpse by a few select photographers.
Asked why the president couldn’t accommodate a little more open coverage, given the nature of the event, White House press secretary Josh Earnest demurred.

“Not this time,” he said.

Insiders say Armstrong was wearing an “Obama Sux” T-shirt, and refused to take it off.

This is the most astonishingly display of an imperial presidency that we have the privilege to witness. The utter hypocrisy of the Democratic party is beyond words. Congress should demand an immediate accounting of this.

Well, after giving them the money he printed and stole from citizens in the form of subsidies, tax cuts, business loans (green or union approved), I guess he expects to get some of it back.
Freshly laundered, of course.

This would be cool. What if, instead of complaining about the lack of access, the WH Reporters just stopped showing up. No Press Conferences, Josh Earnest briefing an empty room, no press gaggle on any of these trips. It seems that Obama lives by the media, being an ego-fed being, so deprive him of that.

Blaise on July 24, 2014 at 2:57 PM

Never happen.

You may have misunderstood the nature of the comments from the press concerning the lack of access to king barry. They weren’t complaining so much as crying. They are begging to get more time with the object of their undying affection.

And thus it shall always be, until their next crush (i.e. the next democrat nominee to the presidency).